Pokemon X and Y: The Shadow of Yveltal
by AmpharosLover16
Summary: Serena, an experienced Pokemon trainer in the land of Kalos, has been imprisoned by the nefarious Team Flare. All she has is a Pokeball and a mission: catch the Yveltal in the shadows above, or starve. Read on to hear her retelling of her journey through Kalos!
1. From Green Hills to Concrete

I don't know why I am here.

This is the thought that has been filling my mind for the passage of time I have spent in this place. My thoughts flow like a whirlpool, dancing around each other and skipping to different subjects but always returning to one, puzzling enigma: the reason why I am sitting in this spacious gray room with ceilings reaching impressive heights and windows that taunt me with prospects of freedom, high above my head. I can't wrap my head around it.

All I know is what I have. An impressive array of food, ranging from simple biscuits to dried meats and fruits to pretty little desserts (chocolate- yum) wrapped in plastic. A water faucet and a cup, too. Obviously they don't want me to starve.

I have this impressively large book of blank pages, coupled with an array of pencils and a few sharpeners. I'd like some colored pencils as well, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. My pokedex was left in my pocket when they stole my things, whether deliberately or accidentally, I don't know.

I have a nice little bed in the corner with a few blankets and a pillow. Not as comfortable as my own bed at home, of course. But then again, it's been so long since I've returned there that I barely remember what it feels like anymore. There's also, of course, a toilet, surrounded by a curtain.

On top of all this, they gave me a single pokeball.

It isn't one of mine- they took those. I feel their absence on my belt with an ache in my heart, like a war veteran feels a pain in their missing limbs. No, it's one of the simple blue variety, a Great Ball. An empty vessel waiting to be filled.

Because of these things that I have, I can infer two things.

One is that the door planted at the far end of the room isn't going to open for a long time.

The other is that they want me to do something. I don't know what it is yet.

Last night I dreamed of a monster in the shadows above me. It watched me as I slept, assessing my movements, waiting for the best time to strike.

I've spent hours thinking over it, and I still haven't figured out what I'm supposed to do. Maybe if I start from the beginning, my thoughts will fall together in the right places.

I started out as a simple girl living in the country. I was born and raised in a decently large agricultural town in Kalos, where the people liked to party late into evenings. There the world was always full of fireflies buzzing in the night while people danced around the firelight and rolling green hills of bountiful food that filled the horizon each morning. In the more populated part of town was an old dirt track used for Rhyhorn racing, which attracted people from all over Kalos like flies to flypaper. My mom was a Rhyhorn racer there, and with her small but quick Rhyhorn Bruce she swept competition.

A few years ago, my mom claimed she was getting too old for racing, for the parties held late into the night. She wanted to grow up, stake her claim, build up a new life for the two of us. Bruce was no spring chicken either. With every passing day his joints creaked more often and his breathing became shallower. She could have retired him and chosen another Rhyhorn to take his place, but her partnership with him was too deep to be replaced.

So away we moved. I still clearly remember studying the house of my childhood as we rode off, committing every detail to memory. The kitchen window that was almost always open, the broken screen door, the small little vegetable garden that Bruce trampled every spring. I stared at it until the rising sun behind it hurt my eyes, and soon we crossed the crest of a hill and it was gone. I haven't seen it since.

The new town, dubbed Vaniville Town by some long-ago authority, was small and cramped, full of concrete and fences. In the area we lived in, the houses were so smushed together there wasn't even an inch of space in between them. Poor, old Bruce didn't even have an area to trot around in. Needless to say, I had an instant dislike of the place. I wanted to leave.

I heard talk of towns even more mystical and exciting than the one I had grown up in. Towns where fairies darted at the corners of your eyes, where ancient artifacts and forgotten histories waited to be found, where crystal towers spread the sun across a glittering river. Towns nestled on ocean cliffs and placed near flourishing riversides. But what I was most interested in was the pokemon.

I was always fascinated by the idea of pokemon as a young kid. In my hometown they were often seen simply as pests, trampling crops and kicking up soil in the fields, plaguing households in the summertime. But to me, they were friendships waiting to happen, a story waiting to be unlocked, a battle waiting to be won. Yes, it sounds sappy. I was an imaginative kid and my fantasies often got away from me.

So when I was caged into four walls of brick and a plaza of concrete, of course I wanted to go find my own adventure. In fact, a week after we had moved I was packed and ready to move again, convinced that I was ready to face the elements and fight my way to the top. Besides, if the famous Ash Ketchum could become the Kanto champion at age ten, surely I could make across the northern forest at age thirteen.

My mother thought otherwise. She kept me in that house for two full years until, at age fifteen, she deemed that I was ready. I'd like to say that I used those years to prepare and study what I could about pokemon, but I mostly filled my time with staring at the colorful pokeballs in the store and wistfully looking at maps of the region. In those years, after being separated from my dream city of long summers and endless sky and thrown into the world's reality, I felt like I grew up. Now I realize that I still have a lot to learn.

This story is turning out to be longer than I thought. For now, I'm going to go exercise a little. You don't mind cliffhangers, do you?


	2. Warning: Choose Your Starter Wisely!

The sun is fading in the upper windows. I wonder what time it is. Five? Six? That's something they should have included in my stock, a watch. At least I have a small light above my bed so I don't have to sit in darkness.

Anyway, back to my story. After two full years, my mother deemed that I was fully prepared for my Pokemon journey. Well, almost fully prepared. There was the problem that I didn't have a Pokemon.

I wanted to catch one. I had enough money to buy a few Pokeballs, and I could make do with fighting with a Zigzagoon before finding a real powerhouse. But I had nothing to weaken them with, and my mom assured me that trying to catch a healthy Pokemon was like trying to open a pickle jar with wet hands. The only Pokemon we had was Bruce, and if I took _him_ in the grass with me he would scare away every Pokemon in a fifty foot radius.

At one point, in the height of my frustration, I even grabbed an unsuspecting Bunnelby and tried to run off with it. I dropped it pretty quickly after it kicked me in the face.

Then, finally, my shooting star fell upon me in the form of a contest. According to my TV, a professor in a big city had recently come into the possession of five Pokemon that he wished to distribute among five young Pokemon trainers that were full of potential. In addition to giving these trainers the Pokemon, the professor would give them a Pokedex and personally guide them through their journey in Kalos, provided that they shared the information collected in their Pokedex with the laboratory. The trainers simply had to send in a video outlining why they wished to become a Pokemon trainer, what they wanted to do with the responsibility, and so on.

A few moments after I saw the broadcast, my friend Calem knocked on my door with a smug look on his face. We were going to win that contest. It's kind of ironic that even though I now consider him a rival for the title of Champion, in the beginning we actually _helped_ each other get our Pokemon in the first place. Stupid former me.

The actual making of the video was the interesting process. Tierno had a video camera that he used to record his new dance moves, so we took it and decided that the best place to make the video was in front of the tall grass where all the Pokemon were. Unfortunately, we left the camera on the floor for a second and a Fletchling, believing the camera was a Scatterbug, took off with it. When it realized it wasn't food it dropped it, and when we finally found it a few hours (and a couple Bunnelby kicks) later, the recording device had broken.

In the end, the video itself had no sound: we just showed ourselves feeding Pokemon and voiced over what we wanted to say on Trevor's computer later. The video itself was alright, but it took a lot of work.

My four friends and I sent our video in and, a week later, we received a letter of congratulations. We had all won. To this day, I wonder if our video was truly the best or if the lab workers just wanted to send all the Pokemon to one place and make their work easier for themselves.

The next week passed in an ecstatic flurry. The box was sent, the shiny red Pokeballs (with pictures of the Pokemon taped on their surfaces) were distributed. The rambunctious Tierno went for the Corphish because its eyes made him laugh, Trevor picked the shy yellow Pikachu (later he confessed that he picked it because it reminded him of himself). Shauna immediately dove for the wide-eyed, adorable Froakie and Calem took the sly Fennekin. I chose the little brown and green Chespin with the wide smile on its face. It might not have been the prettiest Pokemon in the bunch, but it seemed like the most amiable and reliable one. Calem and I were the only ones to receive females, and after a few moments of careful speculation I named my Chespin Cherry.

"Great," Calem said cooly, clipping his Fennekin's pokeball on his belt, "now that we finally have our Pokemon, let's battle."

We all froze in the action of taking our Pokeballs from the box, blinking at him in the glare of the late-morning sun above our cafe table, which was placed on a pavilion overlooking the town square. The box sat in the middle of our circle.

Finally, Trevor broke the silence. "Well you certainly don't waste time." he stated. "We haven't even looked at our Pokemon yet."

Calem glanced at him with a glint in his eyes. "Was that a challenge?" Trevor gulped and quickly shook his head.

I surveyed my remaining friends and realized that neither of them were willing to take on his invitation. I, however, felt like I had been ready for my first Pokemon battle for years. "I'll fight you," I stated confidently, ready to prove myself.

Calem grinned and took his Pokeball in hand. "Challenge accepted."

A few moments later we were facing each other next to the tall grass in front of town, a slight breeze ruffling the foliage and adding drama to the scene. The tension was high for everyone except, apparently, Shauna, who was standing on the nearby bridge with Trevor and Tierno hollering, "Go, fight, win! Come on guys, give it your best shot!"

Calem began the battle with a confidant, "I won't lose!" He clicked his Pokeball and his Fennekin appeared in a flash of light. She looked just like her picture: about one foot tall with yellow fur covering her sleek body, red tufts of fur sprouting from her ears like fire, and a sly, aloof look on her face.

I clenched my Pokeball in anticipation. This was my time to shine. "Go, Cherry!" I yelled, and clicked the button. My Chespin instantly appeared on the ground below me with a chittering cry and looked around in confusion, as if she was thinking, _Where'd these people come from? _When she noticed the pokeball in my hand and looked up at me expectantly, I glanced down at her moves on my Pokedex.

_Tackle and Growl…_ I thought while reading her moves on the screen below her picture. _Guess I'll just go with the attack route and use-_

"Fennekin, use Tackle!" Cheren yelled, interrupting my thoughts. He stood with one foot in front of him, pointing at my Pokemon with an air of confidence.

Fennekin's eyes roved slowly towards Cherry, who was standing her ground, ready to take the attack. However, the attack didn't come. Instead of following her orders, my opponent's Fennekin sat back on her haunches and started licking her paws like a cat.

Calem was aghast and gaped at his Pokemon with a stunned look on his face. From the bridge, Tierno, always the joker, couldn't help but snicker. Shauna, on the other hand, was not shaken. "Keep going, Calem!" she yelled while fist-pumping in the air. "Show your Pokemon who's boss!"

"Cherry, use Tackle!" I exclaimed, seizing my window of oppurtunity. Cherry immediately lunged at the fox, knocking her off her feet and pinning her down on the ground. In a valiant effort Fennekin through Cherry off of her and stood defiantly, flicking her tail in annoyance, but it was no use. Cherry swiped the Fennekin with her paw and she rolled backwards until she hit a bewildered Calem's legs and didn't move- she was unconscious.

"Good job, Cherry!" I yelled as my Chespin ran back to me with a wide grin on her face. "You can rest for now." I opened her Pokeball and she morphed into a ball of light, sailing into it gracefully.

Calem stared in shock at the Pokemon at his feet, and for once Shauna was silent but gave me a grin and a thumbs up. Tierno whistled and stated, "Geez Serena, you sure your Pokemon's not a fighting type?"

I stuck my Pokeball in my bag and grinned at Calem as he reluctantly returned his fainted Fennekin. "Well, it's one to zero now. Better luck next time." He mumbled something under his breath and stuck his Pokeball on his belt.

It turned out Calem wasn't the only one who picked the short straw with his aloof and indifferent Fennekin. When the others fought they realized that Tierno's Corphish was usually too stupid to learn moves, and Shauna's Froakie was afraid of everything that moved, including Pokemon in the grass and those held by other trainers (which she didn't really mind- she thought it was cute). Trevor's Pikachu, on the other hand, was a demon. He seemed docile and complacent, but you did not want to be on the other end of his electric shock. In those early days I was the only one who could defeat him with my Grass-type pokemon.

Cherry was everything I had hoped for. She was good-natured and unwaveringly loyal, and she fought other Pokemon tooth and nail (or, tooth and paw), and having her with me made me even more excited for my Pokemon journey. I had been waiting for that opportunity for years, to be independent, to see the world, to train an amazing team that nobody could challenge. In my first few battles with Cherry I felt confident enough to reach up and touch the sun. We spent the rest of the day battling and then dispersed to our houses for the night.

None of my other friends were really serious about Pokemon training. Shauna simply wanted to become friends with Pokemon, Trevor wanted to catch a lot of Pokemon but not necessarily train them, and Tierno said something about wanting to learning dance moves from Pokemon (I still don't understand that). After a few months Calem and I had far surpassed all of them.

It's been months since I got my first Pokemon. I can't believe how much time has passed. From that point forward my life was always exciting, always full of surprises. I guess time seemed to pass more quickly because of this.

It's dark now, and I don't want to write under the harsh light bulb. I'll try to sleep instead.


	3. Third Time's the Charm

It took me a few months to finally loop around Kalos and reach Snowbelle City, and one more month to train for the Pokemon League. Now I'm no longer an aspiring, naive, frizzy-haired fifteen year old but an experienced sixteen year old with long honey blonde hair that I pull back into a ponytail away from my head. I had six seasoned pokemon that were ready to take on the world, but like I said before, they were taken from me. I didn't get to take on the Elite Four, and I don't know if I ever will.

My nightmare about the beast up above me has not left my thoughts. When I'm exercising or doing other rambunctious activities (such as, say, singing loudly in the center of the room) I feel a presence watching me. Maybe it's not a beast at all but a horde of silent, faceless people up above. Or maybe a bird flew in through the windows and is hiding in the shadows for fear of predators in this strange new environment. Whatever it is, I hope it's harmless. Maybe with my single pokeball I'm supposed to catch the being above me. I don't see what else it would be for, unless my captors want to take me on a nature hike anytime soon.

Back to my story. My first steps into Santalune Forest were exciting. Or at least, they were supposed to be my first steps. Calem had dared me to enter the forest long before that. Nevertheless, Shauna insisted that we all take our first steps on our journey together.

"Come on!" she chirped, pulling me along to the edge of the dark cluster of trees, across the bridge over the murmuring river at the end of town. The others followed behind us, looking slightly anxious.

The sun had just barely come over the horizon and the air was filled with a cold, wet mist that chilled my bones through my sweater. It was so early that only an old man walking a Growlithe was out and about. My eyes were drooping and, being the exact opposite of a morning person, I was hardly in a good mood. In my excitement I had barely slept the previous night. But with a wide smile on her face, Shauna was not perturbed by the chilly weather and the early hour. "We've all worked for this goal together, so we need to start this together!" she exclaimed, almost yelling in her excitement. "Let's go, let's go!"

I was slightly put off by her enthusiasm but still glad that she was so happy after our talk the previous night.

Shauna is the most social person I've ever known. It's like her basic daily needs include food, water, shelter, sleep, and a four-hour chat. An introvert myself, I've always been mystified at her ability to strike up a conversation with everybody (well, almost everybody) she meets, but I've also always admired her for it. She _needs_ to be around people, otherwise, I think she would go insane. That's why the night before we set off on our journey, she confessed that she hoped we would be able to travel Kalos together.

"When we made the video together and all, I just thought maybe that we could all travel Kalos in a group, and I got really excited… but then Tierno started talking about his dancing, and Trevor about the Pokedex, and of course Calem always wanted to become Champion, and I just…" She looked forlorn, but with a huff and a straightening of her back she quickly brightened up again. "I realized that we're all on different paths. But that's okay! We're all going to do our own thing, and I think we're all going to be awesome at them!"

I didn't say anything, instead I continued squinting at her in the light of the setting sun against the roof of my house. And yes, I know that sounds pretty rude and antisocial of me, but I just didn't know what to say. Even though we had already known each other for about a year, I never really thought of her as more than an acquaintance, although I was on better terms with her than others. But that's just who I was. I didn't think I needed friends, I was fine with just my mom and Bruce. In other words, I was the polar opposite of Shauna.

So I just smiled a little and nodded, and she seemed to understand. In those days I wasn't on her level, and it would take a lot of time before I even came close.

Shauna was right when she claimed we were on different paths. By the time we got into the forest, Trevor wanted to stay and catch all the Pokemon there, Calem and Tierno wanted to move on to the next town, I wanted to teach my Pokemon a new move, and Shauna wanted to play with a Scatterbug she found. After just an hour in the forest, we had completely dispersed, agreeing to meet up at the next town's Pokemon center later.

And now, before I move on, I must give a word on Pokemon training: it's _hard_. Catching Pokemon is hard, training them is hard, fighting is hard if you're against a good opponent. At first it would take me a few days to teach my Pokemon certain moves, but when they got really complicated, it could take me up to three weeks of training sessions for my Pokemon to get it right. Some moves, like Tail Whip, are obviously pretty easy, but… well, you try teaching a Pokemon to KO an opponent with a single chop or summon swords from seemingly nowhere.

Capturing Pokemon can be difficult, too. I've heard of Pokemon trainers who have camped out for months in a Pokemon's habitat, waiting for the best time to catch them.

However, on that very first day, I did not know these things. So when, a couple hours and a few Pokemon battles after the group dispersed, I saw a Fletchling in a quiet part of the forest and knew that I simply _had_ to have it, I expected it would be easy to catch him. Unfortunately, I was very wrong.

It was sitting innocently on a tree branch, a ray of light hitting its vibrant red-orange wing feathers. It appeared content, its eyes closed in the sun and its feathers smooth from the heat. Having won all of my past battles that day, I was feeling confident. The breeze ruffled my hair just the right way, the sun shone on my face, and I already had one loyal Pokemon at my belt that would wait at my beck and call. I thought it would be an easy catch, so without bothering to send my Chespin out, I wound back my arm and hurled one of my Pokeballs at it.

Instead of hitting the Fletchling, the Pokeball sailed past it, barely coming within a few feet. The spinning red ball landed in the bushes past the branch with a soft rustling sound, and the Fletchling didn't even flinch. By the time I had stuck my hands into the den of leaves and fished the Pokeball out of the bushes, it had flown off to some other part of the forest.

Instead of giving up, I picked a direction and trudged into the forest, deciding it would be easier to find another one away from the path. With the tree roots and bushes slowing me down it took me a while to find another Fletchling. This time it was on the forest floor eating some forgotten seeds and didn't notice me when I caught it in my sights. I took a deep breath. I was going to be smarter about this than I was before. As discreetly as possible I pulled Cherry from my belt and pressed the button- in a flash of light, she appeared in front of me, thankfully making no noise.

"Ok Cherry," I whispered while my Pokemon looked up at me with a quizzical look in her eyes, "go use Vine Whip on that Fletchling! But make sure you don't make noise or you'll scare him away, alright?"

Cherry nodded with a determined look in her eyes. From the very beginning, I always thought it was amazing that Pokemon could understand human speech. They became my best listeners in the years to come.

While I hid concealed in the bushes like a ninja, Cherry slowly but surely made (more like waddled) her way toward the Fletchling. Then it all happened in a flash. With a sharp cry she stuck out her furry brown paw and a vine whipped out of it. It moved faster than lightning, a green snake hurtling through the air, and struck the Fletchling without mercy on its back. Without hesitation, I jumped up and flung my Pokeball at the bird.

And I missed. Completely. Again. The worst thing was that Cherry's Vine Whip seemed to do absolutely no damage to it. The Fletchling simply glanced at Cherry with a look that said _Really?_ and then, with a few beats of its wings, flew off into the forest.

Suddenly, I heard a snicker from above me and snapped my head around. The source of the noise was Calem, who was sitting in a tree a few feet away, his hand over his mouth to try and smother his laughter. I realized he had probably been watching me this whole time, and my face became hot with embarrassment.

But quickly, my embarrassment turned into anger. I clenched my fists and yelled, "And what exactly are you laughing at, Calem?"

He only started laughing harder, until he could barely speak. "You totally missed… and your Chespin didn't even do anything to it…oh man, that was hilarious…"

I rose to my feet, my fist clenched at my sides. I usually am not the yelling/insulting type of person, but my blood was boiling in my veins, and the embarrassment I felt only added to my anger.

"Yeah, well at least my Pokemon follows orders at all! Why are you even up there? I thought you were going to town!"

His laughter quelled until he sneered at me in amusement, obviously completely unaffected by my insults. "I was going to catch that Fletchling before you came and scared it off. Guess I'll have to find another one, now." He smoothly swung from the tree branch and jumped to the ground, striding away from me. "Thanks for nothing."

I considered walking after him and giving him an earful, but instead turned and stalked away, my steps quick and hard against the ground. "The nerve of him, watching me like that without saying anything…" I muttered to myself. "And then insulting me...seriously…"

I decided that I simply had to catch a Fletchling. No way was I going to let Calem get one instead of me. I reached in my bag to reach for one of Pokeballs in anticipation, but when I felt around there was only one. I had left the other one in the bushes.

Sighing, I spun around and headed back the way I had come, purposely staying alert in case I saw a Fletchling. Then suddenly, there it was- just a few feet away from me. I quickly dropped down below the bushes and took in my surroundings.

It seemed that I had chased away the other Fletchling before it could finish it's lunch. There were still seeds on the ground, and another Fletchling was peacefully pecking at it, unaware of any danger. I grinned to myself, feeling confident as I unclipped Cherry from my belt. She appeared in a flash of light; I gave her my orders and sent her on her way.

This time, we were much more lucky. Cherry tackled the bird with a ferocity and, because she was much heavier than her, easily pinned it to the ground. The Fletchling struggled but soon became tired, and when it stopped to rest for half a second, I threw my Pokeball.

It hit dead on, enveloping the Fletchling in its mysterious white light. The sphere wiggled, and I held my breath. Finally, with a click, it was finalized. The Fletchling was mine. I named him Boris and clipped him triumphantly on my belt.

The sun had already dipped beneath the horizon and after a whole day in the forest, I was exhausted. Even so, I walked with a spring in my step as the last rays of sun caught my face, my mind filled with happy thoughts. _That'll show Calem._ I thought spitefully. _I bet he didn't even get anything._ The forest passed in a haze, and I was too wrapped up in my accomplishment to even notice it. It was a while before I realized one fundamental component of my journey: I wasn't on a path.

In other words, I had absolutely no idea where I was.


	4. Misplaced Metapods

The realization immediately jolted me back to reality. I looked around me, but nothing was familiar. The forest had been dark enough during the afternoon, the tall, flourishing trees greedily stealing all the light from the ground. In the dim light of evening, the shadows were growing longer and darker. I knew that at night it would be pitch black.

"Alright Serena, don't panic." I muttered, talking to myself again. "I'll just turn around and go the way I came...yeah." I turned around and trudged back over the beaten path I had made. "That'll work."

Apparently the forest springs back to normal quickly, because soon I had lost my path. I kept going straight but ended up nowhere. Everything was still unfamiliar, and the sky was steadily growing darker, the shadows creeping around me like ghosts.

I shrugged off my bag and fumbled around, searching for something that could help me. My map told me nothing. Instead of an outline of the forest it had a big green blob with the name streaked across.

"Real helpful," I muttered, stuffing it back in my bag. I looked for something more useful but only found a granola bar and an empty water bottle. Eventually, I decided to do the only thing I could do. I picked a random direction and walked forward.

"Dang it, if only I didn't have such a big head…" I muttered angrily to myself, floundering through the forest. I caught my feet in so many bushes that I had to stop several times to put my shoes back on, and I lost my red hat somewhere in the foliage. Anxious thoughts started to creep in my mind, but I pushed them away by continuing to speak. "Why am I so wrapped up in myself all the time? How did I even get off the path in the first place? Why is it that on my first day of real Pokemon training, _this_ happens?"

Suddenly, I heard a rustling sound and stopped abruptly, almost tripping over a tree root. The noise was muffled by walls of foliage on all sides, but as it grew louder it sounded like...footsteps? A grin broke over my face. I had found a person! I pushed through the trees towards the sound and burst into a small clearing, only to come face to face with… Calem.

Calem looked at me in bewilderment, and I realized that I must have been the mirror image of him. His skin was streaked with dirt, his hair was littered with leaves, and one of his sleeves were torn. He looked like he had been wandering around the forest for hours.

For a moment neither of us said anything, until his gaze turned suspicious and he asked, "Umm, what exactly are you doing here?"

Suddenly I remembered that I was supposed to be mad at him. I took a step back and crossed my arms, narrowing my gaze into a glare. "And why should I answer that after you laughed at me today, stalker? What are _you_ doing here?"

He glanced at the ground when he replied, something very uncharacteristic for him. "I'm just looking for a Metapod I found earlier."

This time, it was my turn to look at him suspiciously. "You were chasing after a Metapod." I replied dryly. "You. Were actively pursuing a Metapod."

His eyes met mine with an annoyed gaze. "That's right. I was following a Metapod but I lost it. So, uh, if you're going to town then I might as well go with you."

In other words, he was as lost as I was but didn't want to admit it. I spread my hands. "Sorry, I have no idea where I am." I glanced down at my black wrist watch, the time said 7:43. "I've been wandering around in this forest for about an hour." I raised my eyebrows. "You know, if you're lost, you can just admit it."

He sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine, fine, I admit it. I'm lost, and I've been trudging through this idiotic clump of trees for about as long as you have. Do you have any idea how to get back?"

I shook my head no. "We'll just have to keep walking and hope we get lucky." I offered. Calem nodded and turned around, and I quickly followed him.

The forest grew darker with every step. After a while I couldn't see the ground beneath me, and I caught my feet in bushes and tree roots repeatedly. Calem was no help. I couldn't see his face in the dark, and he walked on in silence, his silhouetted hands hanging at his sides.

Normally I would have been fine with the lack of conversation, but I needed a distraction from the endless amount of foliage pulling at my legs. "So...um." I began awkwardly. Suddenly I realized that even though Calem had been my neighbor for a year now, I had never had an actual conversation with him. Sure, I argued with him constantly, but I can remember very few times that we actually had a chat. Dang it, I didn't even know where he was _from_. I decided to start with that. "Have you lived in Vaniville Town all your life?"

He nodded- or at least I think he did; I couldn't exactly see his head. "Born and raised."

"Um, ok…" I offered awkwardly. The silence grew again, and I quickly started talking to fill it. "I'm from this town out in the country, called Volvei Town. Kind of sounds like Vaniville, doesn't it? Anyway, it was a lot smaller and my mom was a Rhyhorn racer there, but her Rhyhorn Bruce started getting old so she decided to move…I don't know why she decided to move to Vaniville, honestly, it's pretty boring there. I mean, I don't want to diss the town you grew up in, but..." Immediately after I stopped talking, I wanted to punch myself. I was rambling like an idiot. Luckily, Calem didn't seem to notice.

"Wait, your mom was a Rhyhorn racer?" he asked, his voice bordering on disbelief. "Your mom? Grace?"

I made a conscious effort not to take offense from this. "Yeah, she was really good, too. She won two championships, one before I was born, but I remember watching the second one." I chuckled at the memory of my mom clutching the back of her Rhydon for dear life, weaving through a mob of other racers towards the finish line while dust kicked up in her face and hair. "It was pretty crazy, watching her sweep the competition like that."

For a moment, we were silent, with only the sound of our feet crunching underbrush to keep us company. "I used to watch Rhyhorn racing on TV when I was a kid." Calem finally said. "I guess I just liked watching the way they moved, it seemed amazing how powerful they were."

I nodded, a wistful smile appearing on my face as I remembered my days at the racetrack. The constant noise, the scorching sun, the thundering of the Rhyhorn's feet coupled with the yells of the racers. "Yeah, I used to watch the Rhyhorns a lot too. I loved watching all kinds of Pokemon when I was little, even the bug types. I once had a whole colony of Caterpie living in a cage in my room, but my mom made me-"

All of a sudden, Calem stopped and clamped a hand over my mouth. I made a noise of defiance but he shushed me and pointed to his ear as if he were saying, _Listen._

I zoned in on my hearing, and in the distance I heard… music. It sounded like an orchestra, but a small one, with only strings. I looked at Calem quizzically as he lowered his hand from my mouth and jerked his head in the direction of the music, starting to walk towards it. I followed without hesitation.

Soon we had found the source, an outdoor concert on the edge of Santalune City. On a low wooden stage in front of about twenty rows of chairs, a string quartet played a light, cheerful melody, while a whole array of people listened with blissful looks on their faces. The concert area was covered with a yellow canopy and surrounded by pristine white fences on three sides, with ticket collectors guarding each entrance. Strings of chinese lanterns hung above the audience, washing the area in a bright, cheerful glow.

Calem and I decided to be courteous and wait until the performers were finished to come out of hiding. When they finally finished and the audience rose from their seats and began to mill around, we scrambled out of the brush, hastily brushing off the leaves covering our hair and dirt streaking our clothes. We received many appalled looks from the audience but escaped through one of the exits before we could attract too much attention.

As we hurried towards the Pokemon Center, I couldn't believe our luck. Of all the directions we could have picked, we chose the right one, and there we were. _Funny, _I thought, _just an hour ago I was thinking about how bad my luck was. _I glanced sideways at Calem, but his face, as always, was like a closed door.

The automatic doors to the Pokemon Center slid smoothly open when we approached, the cool, pristine interior almost ushering us inside. The nurse behind the counter glanced at our dirty, tattered appearances in bewilderment, an unspoken question on her face. I opened my mouth to reply but was bombarded by my friends, who were sitting at a table waiting for us.

"What happened to you two?" Shauna asked, absentmindedly pulling a leaf out of my hair. "We waited for you here but you took too long, so we were going to go out and look for you…"

"We got lost." I stated simply, not in the mood to explain furthur. I eyed the empty food plates that littered their tables, and my mouth watered. I suddenly realized I was ferociously hungry. "Um, where'd you get the food from?"

"We bought sandwiches from the store here." Shauna said, pulling two sandwiches and two bags of chips from her bag. "Here, we got you two some too. They might be a little warm, but they've only been out for half an hour so they should be fine."

I sat down, unwrapped my sandwich, and eagerly bit into it. The savory taste of ham, cheddar cheese, and mayonnaise hit my taste buds. It was delicious. I devoured my dinner while Shauna yammered on about her day, with the occasional comment from Tierno. Trevor sat in silence and fidgeted with a Rubix cube, while Calem ate his share next to me. Soon my food was gone and I was sitting satisfied on my chair, my mouth parting in a yawn.

"It is getting pretty late, isn't it?" Shauna stated, standing up from her chair. "Let's turn in for the night, we can all meet up and talk again in the morning before we start up again."

Everyone nodded their agreement, and with a few mumbled "Good nights," we separated to the boys' and girls' barracks at either end of the Pokemon Center.

As I headed into the room filled with rows of bunk beds, my eyes drooped and I noticed that my ankles and feet were aching. I just wanted to crawl into a nice, warm bed…

"Well, g'night, Serena." Shauna said with a grin, thankfully wasting no time chatting. She slipped into a bed and pulled the covers over her, not bothering to change into her pajamas. After taking my shoes off, I rolled into the bed next her and nestled against the mattress, falling asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.


End file.
